![]() ![]() This criticism has led to some nations reforming the system, with countries like Bahrain and Jordan introducing flexible visas that stop workers being under one sponsor, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). ![]() The kafala system applies across the Arab world and is highly criticised by human rights groups for exploiting workers and denying them the ability to travel or change jobs. “I live in fear at any minute I can get arrested and go to jail,” Betty, now 29, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview in Beirut. Trapped by the system, Ethiopian workers in Lebanon see no freedom “I live in fear at any minute I can get arrested and go to jail”īEIRUT, Feb 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – It was Betty’s 22nd birthday when she landed in Beirut from Ethiopia with the promise of a well-paid job, but her dream of a better life ended when she found herself at the mercy of her employers.īetty – whose name was changed for security reasons – is one of more than 100,000 Ethiopian migrants in Lebanon working under the kafala sponsorship system, which binds them to one employer.Įthiopians are the biggest group of migrant workers in Lebanon where there are also more than 47,000 Bangladeshis and nearly 19,000 Filipinos, according to 2016 government data.įor two years Betty said she worked like a slave, facing sexual, verbal and physical abuse, until she managed to escape.īut her new-found freedom was not all she had hoped and for the past five years she has found she is still trapped, working without legal work and residency permits.
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